Bought a new chicken coop ...

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Annie

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Because I was too lazy to build my own AND this one was clearanced so it was a great deal. Old one is about 5 -- maybe 6 years old -- and is a little bit small for my tastes. Now I can gather eggs and take care of the girls without having to hunch over like an ogre. Haha!

This old coop is gonna get chopped up and retrofitted to make a shelter for my new baby ducks. (Yes, honey, I'm getting some ducklings this spring.)

There is a philosophical discussion going on at my house right now on to heat or not to heat. One one hand it's been a tad bit too cold for my tastes and there is a heat lamp on my girls right now. Since the coop is open air it is probably only raising the temo a few degrees but when temps are in the single digits I tend to think they might need the extra warmth.

Seems like there is a current thought process going around that chickens don't need a light after they are feathered out, and some tend to think that an extra heat source is detrimental to the girls. I can't figure that one out but to each their own I guess.

So ... what do you guys think?? Heat source or no heat source?? I've seen my girls hanging out around the heated water base when the cold was REALLY brutal so I tend to believe they appreciate a little hp when it's this cold.
 

swampratt

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I have blocked the wind from my chickens area somewhat when it gets cold.
I have a red heat lamp hanging over the water.
I have seen chickens playing in the snow at way colder temps than we usually have and they do not seem to mind it aout scratching etc.

I think they like the cold much more than the 100+ days.. miserable for them in the heat for sure.
Think about wild birds and what they do in the winter.

Congrats on getting one you do not need to stoop over in.
I built a coop about 9x12 with 7 foot ceiling I used an old glass storm door for the entry door.
Like you no more bending over.
I do toss hay or straw down on the floor for them to scratch and build nest in.
 

deerwhacker444

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Been working over at a friends house since before Christmas. He free-ranges his chickens and ducks and they get no special care. The ducks still get in their pen at night but the chickens have migrated from their one time coop to the barn rafters and top of the duck pen. The barn is open on 1 side but seems to keep the draft off them. I've been watching them the last few days when it was in the single digits. They didn't seem to care. Were scratching around all day and the ducks were playing in any open water they could find. IMO, If they're used to the cold, they don't seem to care.
 

kwaynem

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We have two separate rooms in the barn both with entry and exits one for the chicks other for the hens and rooster both rooms have heat lamps but they also still go out and scratch around
 

Annie

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I can freely admit that my "need" for that heat lamp is because of mh upbringing. We had probably 2 dozen pens with quail, dove, ducks and chickens of various breeds and they all had a hear lamp when temps got down this low. Like you guys, I have noticed that the cold doesn't seem to matter any of my feathered friends, as long as they have plenty of food and water.

The other thing I do is in the evenings, right before they start getting ready to go in for the evening, I will take some warmed up leftovers out, mix a cup of scratch in it and give them a quick snack before bedtime. I know, I know, I know. :rotflmao: But I gotta tell ya, they REALLY like their bedtime snack! :popcorn:
 

deerwhacker444

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Got asked if I'd try to hatch these, giving a DIY incubator a Go...

N2m13t8.jpg
 

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